Poll

Being a local government planner is one of the most stressful jobs you can have

Date: 4/11/2016

According to Planning magazine's 2016 Careers and Salary Survey nearly one in five public sector planners is considering leaving the profession in the next 12 months.

This is no surprise to Anna Rose, President of the Planning Officers Society and planning director at Milton Keynes Council. "The last few years in local government planning have been among the worst I've seen," she says.

"Dwindling resources, negative press, and changes in legislation taking powers away from local government" have all contributed to worsening morale, she says. "Local government used to be the best place to get experience as a planner. Now it has become one of the most stressful jobs you can have."

Rose believes that local government could stem the flow of planners away from the profession by investing in career development. "Our problem is resourcing, both in terms of having enough people to be able to do the job and in retaining staff by providing the progression and training that will encourage them to stay," she says.